As initial fact-finding results on the direct causes of the Ultra tragedyare slated to come out today, Anakpawis Representatives Crispin Beltran andRafael Mariano today filed a resolution urging a more thorough investigationinto deeper and root cases of the February 4 stampede at the Ultra that leftat least 79 persons dead and hundreds injured.

The solons today filed House Resolution (HR) No. 1129, entitled, '*AResolution Expressing the Sense of the House for the Victims and Survivorson the Poverty-Induced Stampede at the Philippine Sports Commission Arena onFebruary 4, 2006, and Calling for Recommendatory Measures to Address theRoot Causes of the Said Tragedy' *.

H.R. 1129 called for the House Special Committee on Poverty Alleviation toconduct and investigation in aid of legislation, and to likewise assess theflagship poverty alleviation programs and recommend other measures for thelong-term benefit of the poor.

"Any probe should identify those directly accountable for the failure ofcrowd-control mechanisms and audience security. It should file theappropriate charges, but should not stop at that. This tragedy shouldlikewise compel the national government to reexamine its flawed and inutilepoverty alleviation programs that contribute to the neglect of the toilingmasses. We can not just leave the welfare of the people to charity work,grand game shows or the Lotto alone," Rep. Beltran said.

The resolution noted that more than 35% of the Philippines' estimatedpopulation of 85 million people live on less than $2 a day.

"It is clear from the various media interviews with the victims and thesurvivors―whether in the local or in the international press―thatoverwhelming poverty was the primary factor that pushed people todesperation and haste to get into the venue, which significantly contributedto the stampede," he noted.

*Sec. Ermita's rebuttal fallacious and unscientific *

Rep. Beltran, meanwhile, chided Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita forsaying that observations on the tragedy as a mirror of the state of thecountry's poor were way out of line.

"Any scientific or sociological study of the 'Ultra-tragedy' willinevitably factor in demographics: the fact that poor people consideredwinning in 'Wowowee' as one of the few means to uplift their livingconditions, and disprove Sec. Ermita's point that economics and the politicsof poverty has absolutely nothing to do with this event," he said.

"It's utterly fallacious and illogical of Sec. Ermita to uncriticallycompare the Ultra stampede with a stampede during the Feast of the BlackNazarene or during the Sinulog, because other components―celebratory gaiety,or folk Catholicism―are also involved. In the Ultra stampede, the promiseof economic relief was the primary identifiable factor behind the frenzy.This is not necessarily the same case with religious festivals orcelebrations," he said. ###